"It is the most important victory of my career." -- Head Coach Dick Voris, after the Hoos’ 15-12 victory over Duke on September 27, 1958. Voris finished his UVA career with a record of 1-29.

"We've stopped recruiting young men who want to come here to be students first and athletes second." -- Former Virginia head coach Sonny Randle, describing his strategy for turning around UVA's football program

"As the score mounted, to 20-0 and finally 26-0, his movements slowed. With two minutes to go and South Carolina threatening once more, Voris stood behind several rows of substitutes, staring at his shoes." -- Sports Illustrated, describing Coach Voris’ stellar coaching performance during the Hoos’ 26-0 loss to South Carolina in 1960

"Really, Texas wasn't as good as I thought they'd be." -- Ted Manly, Virginia's freshman quarterback, after Texas had spanked the Hoos 68-0

UVA Football’s Top 20 Stomach Punch Games (1989-2008)

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Thankfully, most UVA fans have no recollection of those three losses, for the same reason that most guys don't remember crapping their pants in second grade music class.

But those losses actually happened. In 1994, Duke beat Virginia 28-25. The Blue Devils came into that game with an unfathomable 7-1 record and went on to finish tied for third (with UVA) in the ACC. Clearly that was just a case of the College Sports Gods setting Duke up for the magical Pete Gaudet Era that would be ushered in later that year. (Loved that era, by the way.) In 2008, Duke beat Virginia by a score of, um, 31-3 and had Virginia fans everywhere scanning their remotes for the reset button.But in 1999, Virginia was quite simply blindsided by a loss that no one saw coming.

Background

In 1999, the Hoos were trying to establish their identity after a very successful 1998 season that featured one of the most talented teams of the Welsh era. Aaron Brooks and Terrence Wilkins had departed, so the offense was relying on a heavy dose of Heisman candidate and resident badass Thomas “Two Tickets to the Gun Show” Jones. UVA was 3-2 coming into the Duke game that year, with wins over UNC (on a last second, hurricane-aided field goal) and BYU (in a shootout where UVA almost blew a 28-6 lead). Wahoo fans were somewhat reeling, however, from the beatdown they received courtesy of Michael Vick and the Virginia Tech Hokies the previous week, in a rare early season match-up between the in-state rivals.

Given that performance, and an early season blowout loss at Clemson, expectations for the remainder of the season were mixed. Faint rumblings that George Welsh and his staff had lost a step began to grow, especially given the increased notoriety of the program in Blacksburg and its freshman sensation Vick. Fans were waiting for promising quarterback Dan Ellis to start putting up numbers similar to his QB predecessors, and for some consistency from the defense, which was trying to replace all-time Hoo luminaries Anthony Poindexter and Patrick Kerney.

But the schedule was soft and, even with tempered expectations, most fans still hoped for an upper division finish and a decent bowl game. The game with Duke, featuring new coach Carl Franks, was seen as an opportunity to lick some wounds suffered the prior week and get back on the winning side.

Opponent

Regardless of fan expectations, no one – not even Carl Franks's mom – ever considered that Virginia would follow-up their subpar performance against the Hokies with a loss to Duke. Coming into the game, the Blue Devils were 0-4 and had lost seven straight games dating back to the 1998 season, and Franks was still looking for his first win as a college head coach. Duke was coming off a "home" game in Jacksonville against FSU, hanging tough with the Seminoles and only trailing 44-0 at halftime. Duke would eventually win three games in 1999, but they proceeded to go 0-22 over the next two seasons and wouldn't win another ACC game until 2003.

In short, even by Duke's pathetic standards, this was not a good football team. And on top of that, they had not won in Charlottesville since 1981.

Given this obvious setup, here's how the #19 Stomach Punch Game graded out:

Size of Lead Lost – 2 out of 10 Points

First off, the halftime score was 0-0. Whenever you play Duke, a scoreless first half is generally not a good plan of action. It's like eating a bunch of Taco Bell and jumping on the subway – lots of sweating, clenched muscles and hoping for the best. It was one thing for the offense to get shut down by a Hokie team that would play FSU in the Sugar Bowl, but going scoreless against Duke is something entirely different. Thomas Jones (31 rushes for 185 yards) got UVA on the board with a 48 yard run in the third quarter, but Duke answered to make it 7-7. UVA eventually went up 17-10 on another TD run by TJ midway through the fourth quarter. That seven point lead held up…until there were 6 godforsaken seconds left in regulation.

Level of Choke – 5 out of 10 Points

Any loss to Duke involves some choke factor. UVA outgained Duke in the running game 255-105, but Duke QB Spencer Romine outplayed Dan Ellis, who was 21-39 for only 164 yards and 2 picks. Todd Braverman missed a field goal that would have won the game in the first OT. Ellis's interception on third down in the second OT ended the game. But all that's secondary. It was Duke. We gagged.

Singular Moment – 8 out of 10 Points

OK, about those final seconds in regulation. It was about that time that Carl Franks decided to go all Carl Franks on UVA. With 12 seconds left from the UVA 9 yard line, he figured it was a prime opportunity for some hijinks. He called for some convoluted reverse play, which failed miserably when WR Letavious Wilks was lit up by Virginia LB Byron Thweatt and fumbled the ball. Game over, right?

No such luck. Following the fumble, Duke WR Scottie Montgomery (8 catches for 172 yards) picked up the ball and heaved it across the field in desperation to yet another freaking WR, Rich Flowers, who stumbled into the end zone like he just polished off his 4th year fifth for the tying touchdown. UVA fans were left to decide which was worse – Duke pulling that game out of their glory hole, or getting beat by the resourcefulness of a wide receiver named "Scottie."

Painful Finish – 8 out of 10 Points

The two overtimes were not much better. UVA got the ball first, did nothing offensively, and missed a 44-yard field goal. In classic Duke fashion, the Blue Devils granted UVA a temporary reprieve by missing a field goal of their own. In the second OT, Romine found Benjamin Watson for the go-ahead touchdown. UVA tried to answer, as Ellis found Ahmad Hawkins in the back of the end zone for an apparent score, but the refs ruled his foot was out of bounds. Two plays later Ellis threw a pass into the waiting arms of Duke DB Lamar Grant. Game over.

Season Killer – 2 out of 10 Points

As embarrassing as the loss was, it did not have major implications for the season. Players and fans alike just tucked all those painful memories deep, deep into their subconscious. UVA went on the road the following week and beat NC State in Raleigh by a score of 47-26, scoring 30 points in the third quarter alone. Overall though, the 1999 season is generally remembered for two games – the David Rivers Game (beating #6 Georgia Tech 45-38 at home behind 213 yards rushing from Thomas Jones) and the 63-21 loss to Illinois in the Micron PC Bowl. Consistency was kind of a problem in 1999.

Long-Term Implications – 3 out of 10 Points

Surprisingly, the Duke loss had no impact on the overall stature of the football program, but it did point to the fact that UVA's talent was not what it had been earlier in the 1990s. The Hoos could no longer just show up and expect to win. It really wasn't until the 2000 season that there was any significant clamoring for changes to be made in the UVA coaching staff. The successful 1998 campaign was still fresh in the minds of UVA fans, so Welsh did not receive much backlash for the improbable loss.

Conclusion

Surprising as it seems, UVA doesn't often lose games as abruptly as they did this one. And given the opponent and the wacky nature of the tying TD, this game certainly rated as a sizable stomach punch at the time. But unlike some other shocking losses during the Welsh era, this one was just chalked up as a fluke and, for most fans, did not signal a bellwether for future failure or hold many lasting memories. Amazingly, even with the record-setting season of Thomas Jones, I never think of the 1999 season as particularly memorable. But a Duke win here could have given us an 8-3 season, and UVA just doesn't have that many three-loss regular seasons. Of course, given the 63-21 loss in the Micron PC Bowl, it may be a good thing UVA didn't go 8-3 in 1999 and make an even better bowl. We might have gotten blown out.